The Journey
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Post ep for "The Performer" H/P - After JJ's attack, Hotch spends time with Prentiss at the hospital and makes a startling proposition.


******_A/N -- Just wanted to take a moment and let ya'll know this is it til at least Sunday...the Swine flu is kicking my butt. I really appreciate all the reviews and feedback. And to my anonymous reviewers, thank you, too. I can't thank you personally cause won't let me, but I truly appreciate it. Keep letting me know what ya'll think...but please be kind. As ever, I don't own Criminal Minds. And lastly, thanks JenRar, for the beta on this one!_**

**The Journey**

Sitting outside the examination room at the local hospital, Emily Prentiss leaned her head against the cool concrete wall behind her and closed her eyes. What the hell was this affinity their team seemed to have developed for hospitals lately? First, Hotch. Then, Reid. Now, JJ. Banging her head gently against the hard surface behind her, her eyes flashed open as she heard a familiar chuckle to her right.

"I know you've got a hard head, Prentiss, but one agent with a concussion is enough, don't you think?" Hotch asked as he dropped into the chair beside her.

"Very funny," Emily muttered, casting a sidelong glance at the taciturn man beside her. These days, she couldn't quite get a handle on her former boss. Alternately staid and domineering then easy-going and laid back, he was a mass of confusing characteristics these days that even those who'd known him longest were hard pressed to figure out. The upside was that he'd been smiling more. She'd even heard an honest to God chuckle last week. Something she couldn't for the life of her remember hearing before. And she found she liked the sound…much more than she should.

The problem wasn't that he was finding the humor in situations again. Far from that. It was that just lately, he'd been exhibiting patently un-Hotchlike behavior. Tackling unsubs, for God's sake. Two cases running at that? That was decidedly anti-Hotchner. Even more surprising was the fact that she was even more attracted to him now than she had been before. And she wouldn't have thought that could be possible.

"What are you thinking, Emily?" he asked quietly from her side.

"Honestly? I'm thinking that I've spent way too much time in hospitals recently," she replied truthfully, gazing down the long hallway toward the nurse's station. How long did an update take anyway?

"Very true," Hotch concurred, inclining his head slightly as he tapped his foot against the yellow tiled floor anxiously. "Any word yet?"

"Nothing. They said they'd let us know when there was something to tell us. Where are the others?" Emily asked, glancing around for a sign of her colleagues.

"Back at the station wrapping up loose ends," Hotch murmured. "I volunteered to join you over here. Figured you could use the company," he shrugged.

Again, decidedly un-Hotchlike behavior. Since when did Aaron Hotchner voluntarily cede case work to his co-workers?

As Emily arched a dark eyebrow in response, Hotch confessed, "Okay, fine. I needed to get away from Morgan."

Now, that made sense. Watching someone else doing his job had to be difficult. Especially since the other man did, indeed, know what he was doing. Then again, it shouldn't be surprising to Hotch; he, after all, had trained Morgan.

"It's only temporary, Hotch," Emily said in a soft, conciliatory voice.

"That's what everybody keeps saying," Hotch nodded, his tone implying he didn't quite believe the statement anymore.

"It will be," Emily insisted, turning to face him more fully as a child's scream rent the air.

"Sounds like somebody just got a shot," Hotch half-smiled.

"Know that sound, do you?" Emily grinned, leaning forward to glance down the hallway.

"Oh, yeah. Jack screams bloody murder any time a needle enters his field of vision," Hotch chuckled.

"I know you miss him," Emily said softly, reaching a tentative hand out to rest on his arm.

"That's a tame word for how I feel," Hotch muttered, averting his eyes.

The pain behind those simple words gripped her heart as she tightened her grip on his arm. "We'll get them home again, Hotch. You know we will."

Nodding without looking at her, Hotch stared down at the fist clenched against his thigh. Forcing himself to release the tight grip, he smoothed his hand against his slack's leg. "I know," he nodded quietly. "Just wish I knew when."

Nodding because there were no words that she could give him, she patted his arm again. "You tackled another unsub today…that should make you feel better," Emily teased.

"Yeah, but JJ got to hit him with a shovel. Now, that would have been much more satisfying," Hotch groused.

Laughing, Emily nodded. "The difference is he probably wouldn't have gotten back up after you hit him. And in her defense, he hit her first."

"There's that," Hotch nodded. "Did anybody think to call Will?" Hotch asked quietly, thinking of JJ's Cajun boyfriend.

"I did," Emily nodded. "He was understandably upset. Said he'd meet us at the airstrip when we landed."

"He's good for her," Hotch murmured quietly. "He understands the job."

"Yeah, I guess, it would make things easier," Emily agreed, looking at his profile again. "I suspect we'll all be attending a wedding before long," she sighed.

"I imagine you're right," Hotch smiled. "I hope they both realize how lucky they are to have each other. You take it for granted sometimes."

"Is that what happened with you and Haley?" Emily questioned softly. Realizing what she'd asked in the next breath, she quickly retreated. "Hotch, I'm sorry. Of course you don't have to answer that…"

Holding up a hand, Hotch shook his head. "Its okay, Emily. I think we were both guilty of the whole taking each other for granted business. I thought she'd always be there. I assumed she'd finally accept what being the wife of an agent entailed. I thought she'd learn to love the man I'd become, not just the man I had been. I expected too much. She wanted the nine to five, home in time for dinner husband and father, and I couldn't give that to her. She wanted me to change who I'd become. I couldn't. In hindsight, neither one of us tried very hard to understand the other. And, by the time I realized what was happening, she was gone, I was divorced, and I was a part-time father."

"Wow," Emily gaped. "Maybe the only chance for a normal relationship in the Bureau really IS with someone who understands what this job entails fully. I mean, look at you. Look at Rossi. Morgan doesn't keep a woman longer than the night. Reid doesn't even look. Garcia's dating another analyst. I haven't been out on a date since God was a boy and JJ's all but married to a cop."

Laughing at her unique analysis of the situation, Hotch nodded. "Don't hold back, Emily. Tell me how you feel."

"Was I wrong?" Emily asked, genuinely smiling as she stared in his dark eyes.

"No. I'd say you have a fairly accurate handle on the situation," Hotch said, his voice uncharacteristically light. "You know there may be only one thing we can do, right?" He asked with a raised brow at her.

"And what's that?" she murmured, settling back in the vinyl chair, the material creaking as she shifted in her seat, raising her Styrofoam cup of coffee to her lips.

"We could try dating each other," he offered casually, watching her face closely for a reaction.

Choking on her coffee, Emily quickly leaned forward in her chair, coughing and gasping for breath as his words penetrated. Had he really just suggested a relationship between them?

Patting her back firmly, Hotch chuckled self-derisively as he murmured, "Okay, I know it was an off-the-wall idea, but I didn't realize you'd try to commit suicide by coffee over it."

Finally catching her breath, she sat back in the chair and gazed at him with widened eyes. "You're serious?" she croaked.

"I was," Hotch muttered, "although in hindsight, I probably should have waited to suggest it until you were clear of all fluids," he murmured, staring at the spilled coffee on the floor.

"Forget the coffee, Hotch," Emily gaped. "You're really serious here?" she repeated, terrified this was some twisted joke.

Meeting her stare, Hotch looked in her dark eyes as he said sincerely, "Very serious, Emily. You're an attractive woman, you know me well, I've confided more about my past marriage to you in five minutes than I have to anyone in two years, and I'm more comfortable around you than anyone I know. I thought now that the whole boss/employee issue is resolved…you might be willing to explore the possibilities with me."

Gaping, Emily's breath caught in her throat. Everything she wanted was looking her in the eye and she was frozen in her seat…unable to speak or form coherent sentences.

"Emily? Say something, Prentiss," Hotch ordered, noting her sudden pallor.

"Yes," she breathed. "Yes to all of it." So help her God, she was going to offer her babysitting expertise to JJ for a month for offering this golden opportunity. Seeing his eyes widen slightly in surprise, Emily tilted her head. "You thought I'd say no?"

"I wasn't sure," Hotch shrugged with a slow smile. "I just knew I had to take the chance."

"I'm glad you did," Emily said softly, returning his smile. "I was beginning to think you were a lost cause, Aaron Hotchner."

"Never lost, Emily," Hotch denied with a weak. "I just got slightly misdirected on my journey of self-discovery. But I think…just maybe…I'm back on the right course."

And with those words, Emily Prentiss realized she'd do whatever it took to keep this man on the right road. Her road.

FINIS


End file.
